Both of my subies (an '88 DL wagon and a '90 Loyale wagon) were broken into this morning. Not too much was stolen, only about 30 CDs and a flashlight. The stereos in both cars were left behind as both had removable faces and neither had the "face" with it in the car. Actually there was little "breaking" that took place as someone managed to open the doors on both cars without breaking the windows.

 

I am thankful that all of the glass is still intact but a little disturbed by the apparent ease with which someone got into both cars. I am just curious how someone got into the cars so easily and if there's anything I might do to prevent them from doing so in the future.

 

I am certain all doors on both cars were locked last night. There are no signs of forced entry on either car. No certain signs of the glass being pried away from the frame and no signs that anything was inserted down between the glass and the weatherstrip into the guts of the door (slimjim? The windows and weatherstrip are fairly dusty and nothing was disturbed). I was thinking that maybe Subies door locks aren't "keyed" very strongly and that maybe, with a little practice, you could use the key from one car to open the doors on another.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Jim

it is possible to pry the glass out and push the lock very easily.. without disturbing anything..

 

thats the drawback to subaru's.. no door frame around the window.. easiest way to get into one.. (used to do that in my previous job, car lot attendant) keys get locked in cars all teh time, soobs were easy to get into..

 

you can also take a very long small bar, and push it in the drivers sie window and push the lock on the passenger side.. (this is easier)

The tumblers are as strong as any other cheap little japanese car.. they won't just roll over with any generic key.. However, give me a slim jim and about 30 seconds....(yeah, I know, I'm slow.. a little out of prcatice ) .. One picks up all kinds of neat tricks when one has worked at a wrecking yard

the LED sounds like a great idea. i know with other makes you can pry the window down until you can get your fingers in there and just push it down slowly. not sure if soobs are this way or not.

Thanks for the thoughts.

 

The older subie looks like such a piece of junk (and I love it) that it seems funny to me that anyone would take the time to break into it. I guess an alarm system or a pseudo-alarm blinking LED might be worthwhile but I am afraid that an alarm system on a POS might raise even more suspicions about what was in the car!

 

The "newer" subie (the '90) is much nicer and well maintained. An alarm system might not be an unreasonable investment in it.

 

Sorry to appear so naive but I've never had much opportunity or reason to break into my cars or others. I just haven't given it much thought before. I am a very good mechanic but not a very good burglar. I need to work on my "criminal mind" a bit.

don't worry about the criminal thinking. we've got that part pretty well covered.

 

feel free to ask as many questions as needed. criminal or not.

the key to my '75 open at least three other cars in town

good thing we all work at the same place:-p

They're not spending their time with keys.

 

They're pulling out your window as suggested above:mad:

 

Old Subarus are just too easy.

 

Don't keep anything of value in it and leave it unlocked!

 

A blinking light can be made for under $5.

well I know the key to my wagon works on Turbone's blue hatch (Sycosuby used to own both my wagon and his hatch at one time lol)

My loyale key works in Jasons cousins 87 wagon. And my 87 GL key fits Andrews 86 turbo sedan

ok well im cheap and trying to save money for college, and i just want a blinking LED, it worked in all my other cars that i had one in, but the problem was that i had someone else make it for me, and then when i sold that car i took it uot and put it into the next.

 

and because i forgot to take it out of my camaro, i couldn't put it into my truck which was broken into and had the stereo, tach, and a bunch of other EXPENCIVE things stolen.

 

so if anyone knows how to make one, please give me a heads up.

 

Thanks a bunch

Shean

I've broken into 2 of my cars in 2 different ways, using no tools, just the car itself.

 

Method 1 - Pop the hood (easy to do from outside the car) and get the hood prop. Then use the hood prop to slim jim a door open. Takes a few minutes, but it worked.

 

Method 2 - This works on wagons with power locks - Get the hood prop again, pry the drivers' side window open a bit, and push the switch for the rear gate lock with the hood prop. It works whether the keys are in the ignition or not.

 

For a blinking LED, you can buy ones that blink when they're powered, or a simple blinker kit. Try http://www.allelectronics.com for a cheap one.

On my '76 wagon, all you needed was a pencil (or any short stick). The rear hatch latch was accessible from under the bumper. Just push in the pencil, unlock the latch, and in you go.

 

Did it many times. Thanks to Subaru for fixing this "feature" in later models

 

-- Mark

Best theft deterrant on an old soob is to lift it. They take one look and move one - figureing that this guy is probably slightly unbalanced, and it would be a real bad idea to get caught by him....

 

In my case this is actually true - if I catch some tard trying to make off my stuff, there's gonna be hell to pay. As my drill seargent used to say - "keep stomping till the police arrive"

 

I know - I'm just an unbalanced person - with some violent tendancies. But hey - it works for me.

 

GD

The last one I built used a timing chip to flash the LED.

 

Now you can pick up the flashing LED at Radio Shack. Add a battery holder and your done. (batteries not included)

 

Still kinda hard to beat the allelectronics one for a buck!

Originally posted by GeneralDisorder

 

I know - I'm just an unbalanced person - with some violent tendancies. But hey - it works for me.

 

GD [/b]

 

Same here..

If I ever catch anyone stealing from my car, they WON'T ever walk again. Oh yea and its self defense if you catch someone breaking into your car adn you kick the **** out of them

heh if its in my driveway they'll get a .22 shell in thier rump roast for breakin into my ****..

 

of course i never lock my cars, so its more like opening my door without my consent.. either way you get the picture..

hey EmmCeeBee you have mail!

Ok another question kind of along these lines.

 

either my ignition switch is going out or there is a relay somwhere going south either way....sometimes when i twis the key it is not letting enough juice through to spin her over and the other day it behaved like it had no juice thriugh out the system and the wala back to normal.

 

Anybody want out p.m me on how to hot wire the river rat?I spend an imense amount of time in the back forty steelhead fishing and am afraind of a long walk.I am not interested in a new ignition switch on this old but faithfull beast,hell you can start it with any key or even a dime as it is now.I would be just as happy to bypass the switch and install a couple of switches

ok but what i want to know is how would i make it blink when the car is off. so like when i get out, or turn the car off i want it to start blinking, and i dont want to wire it to a switch. that i have to flip each time i get out.

Originally posted by GeneralDisorder

Best theft deterrant on an old soob is to lift it. They take one look and move one - figureing that this guy is probably slightly unbalanced, and it would be a real bad idea to get caught by him....

 

In my case this is actually true - if I catch some tard trying to make off my stuff, there's gonna be hell to pay. As my drill seargent used to say - "keep stomping till the police arrive"

 

I know - I'm just an unbalanced person - with some violent tendancies. But hey - it works for me.

 

GD

 

How about one of those stickers that reads "If you value your life as much as I value this vehicle, KEEP YOUR F***ING HANDS OFF!!!" or something along the lines of that.

Bumper sticker on my truck

 

"Protected by Smith and Wesson and a certified crazy owner ! any questions?"

 

Yeah I own a Smith model 29 .44 magnum :D :D